CM 4 Episode #9 Homeschool a Large Family with guest Brooke Woody

CM 4 Episode #9 Homeschool a Large Family with guest Brooke Woody

Show Notes:

Homeschooling mother of ten children ranging from K5-12th grade. Oil painter and art instructor (BFA Clemson University summa cum laude), aspiring flower farmer, lover of nature, books, yoga and God.

A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola

Managers of Their Homes/Chores by Maxwell

High Performance Habits by Brendan Bruchard

A Gentle Feast

Teaching Textbooks

Mother Culture article

Imagination article

Frequent Games: Yahtzee, Bananagrams, Boggle, Scrabble, any card games such as Rummy, Phase 10, Uno.

Yoga: doyogawithme.com (member for many years, but many free practices), alomoves.com

Microsoft Exce


Show Transcript:

Julie -

Welcome to the Charlotte Mason show, a podcast dedicated to discussing Miss Mason's philosophy, principles, and methods. It is our hope that each episode will leave you inspired and offer practical wisdom on how to provide this rich living education in your modern homeschool. So, pull up a chair. We’re glad you’re here.

Today's episode of the Charlotte Mason Show was brought to you by Medi-Share. Find out more about this affordable Christian alternative to traditional health insurance at medishare.com.




Julie -

Today I'm going to be sharing Part 2 of my interview with Brooke Woody on homeschooling a large family, and I would just like to, before I jumped into that interview, I just like to give a listener shout-out to Laura, who left this review in iTunes. Laura said we recently started homeschooling and found Charlotte Mason and then found Julie through Facebook. At the time, I was so overwhelmed with trying to figure out what curriculum to choose and how to organize it all. Fortunately, I found out Julie had a curriculum called A Gentle Feast and I looked it over and it was such an answer to my prayers. We absolutely love her curriculum. It's been such a blessing to watch my boys thrive and love to learn. Then I found this podcast and it has helped me clarify some of my questions and helped me understand more about Charlotte Mason and her philosophy. Thank you, Julie. You're amazing. God bless. Oh, Laura, you're amazing. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review. It just, it really touched my heart and I'm so, just so really thankful that you would take the time to do that. It really means a great deal to me.

I know homeschooling moms, we are so overwhelmed and busy. But those of you who have taken the time to leave a review in iTunes, thank you so much. And if you haven't done that yet and you're just getting a lot out of this podcast, can I just ask you to take a second and do that? It really does help get the word out about the podcast so that other homeschool moms can be blessed as well.

So, if you haven't already, please go back and listen to part one of my interview with Brooke. Today we're picking up in the middle of that interview and she's gonna talk a little bit more about homeschooling with babies and toddlers, how to hear narrations when you have a lot of children, and also, I'm about the importance of chores and work in our children's education. So, I really think you're going to enjoy the second half as well. So, thank you so much everyone just for supporting this podcast and for listening. I hope this interview blesses you greatly.

So, can you talk a little bit, like, about young children here? Cause I got a lot of questions about that. You're ??? What, how do you balance, okay, I need to work one on one with so and so on how to read, or math when they're really young, you have to be so hands-on, right? How do I keep everybody else from turning into like ??? ?

B -

Crazy people. Okay, so currently what I'm doing is when I'm using the Gentle Feast language arts books, I've got two of them in form one in three of them in form two.

And what I do is I sit there, cause we do, we read our Bible, do our devotions before we start, and then we head straight to that. And so, in the big kids, head downstairs to do Latin, which they do on...what is that Latin you suggested?

J -

Compass classroom?

B -

It's a DVD. It's wonderful. Anyways regardless, they love their Latin. So, they head down there and then I sit with the kids and they open right up to copy work and they all do the copy work at once, in which I do the, you know, masterly inactivity of, yeah, I make comments now and then and I say, okay, keep moving. Okay, you're doing fine. So, it's really full throttle for me, watching the five of them do their copy work without hovering too much. We do that for ten minutes and we listen to a composer at that time. So, right now we're listening to Wagner, and so I just, Alexa. Oops, I better not say that.

J -

She's listening.

B -

You know, I say play Richard Wagner or whatever. And they listen to that while they do copy work. Then what I do with your books is, they do the spelling on day one, which is fine. I can kind of manage that with everybody. But then when it comes to the grammar focus, on the day that I do the grammar focus with the older set I have the younger set do the picture you have provided. And so, they're working on the picture while I'm doing the grammar focus and then vice versa. The bigger kids do their picture while I do the grammar focus with the younger.

So, I've appreciated that. That has helped me a lot to kind of divide and conquer. And then for us with math, what we do is I, I've always combined math. I have not delved into Charlotte Mason math ever, so it sounds intriguing to me. Haven't been there. So, I do Abeka One with the kindergartner and first grader. So that's what I do next, and while I'm doing that, the bigger kids do their literature reading and they narrate in their notebook. So, I was basically like, it's really like Sudoku or fitting a jigsaw, just getting...and now the older children, and I have done this since my high schooler was in their grade, they used teaching textbooks. I think that teaching textbooks is fine if you're not looking to be, like, a math major, which some people might, but none of my kids have shown that amount of interest in math. Fortunately, they've all been good at it, enough that, so that has worked for us, but I know a lot of other people use a lot of different things, so I have not ever tried to do. I'm teaching you math. I'm like, first grade, second grade.

J -

It is a lot and I give people credit to people who are able to do that. But it is a lot. And in today's world we do have amazing...

B -

Resources.

J -

...online resources. Right. That can give you, kind of take that off your plate and I think that's, you know, one of the things that I've had to learn. Yes, there's ideals. Yes, there's things that I'm like, oh I wish I could do that. That sounds really interesting. And then there's like oh, here's reality of my actual life and what am I actually physically capable of doing? Okay, I can't do that right now. That sounds lovely. Like you say, it's math especially, like, but it's like, okay, we were able to do that when they were little and now, you know, it's, I don't know how to teach it cause I don't understand it. So, someone else gotta teach it.

B -

So there's also the element of like the reading. So I'm teaching two to read right now, and so we just take turns. And Charlotte Mason's short lessons is the key to that. I mean, I have taught, I think eight people to read, and I think one learned to read at school. And it's not, you don't have to spend thirty minutes a day for someone to be a proficient reader.

It takes five to ten minutes a day for most children. Of course, there are children with special needs who, it's going to be different. But for your average child, if you're consistent, it will catch on.

J -

Yes, that's such a good point. Yes, and it's so much more enjoyable when you have those short lessons for everybody.

B -

Yeah.

J -

You're not pulling your hair out. Do you have to, other kids that you listen to read?

Or it's just the little two that you're teaching to read?

B -

Just the youngest two.

J -

Okay.

B -

So, the third, fourth, and fifth graders they all read from the literature selection, and then they write a narration. And then, I guess we're going to talk about narrations.

J -

Yeah, let's talk about that while we're on it. Yeah.

B -

So, I've got just composition books and I want them to write the name of the, what they read and then the date and the pages they read, and then a short narration. And so, we've got my oldest who's doing narrations and you see these wonderful, fabulous things that you're like, wow, this is a great, this is like an essay.

J -

Yes, exactly right.

B -

And I've got the youngest and so I actually do show them each other's narrations occasionally. Not not as a shaming method, but as an inspiring method of saying, hey, you're going to be there one day. This is where you are going. Not you might go there, or you might be able to do that, or you should be able to do that. It's you're going to do that one day. Look at what you're going to be doing and trying to get them to increase what they're doing, but never making them feel bad about what they're doing.

So, what I've been doing this year is the composition books. They narrate their literature, they narrate, the older ones, narrate their history. I'm trying to think what else they narrate. They have been listening to Plutarch, but we're changing that a little bit and they were narrating that, and they were, they weren't listening...

J -

I can barely narrate Plutarch, so...

B -

So, a little off the topic, they were listening to Shakespeare, and Plutarch on Audible for a while there, which I, we have like 200 titles on Audible. I would say that's the best resource for when you have a lot of little kids, is to get child's history of the world. Get all the titles that you want them to hear. And use audible frequently. Rest time, nighttime, my kids all go to sleep listening to Audible and they can't go to sleep without listening to Audible. So, you go in one room, we use Alexa cause we don't want them...oh boy, she better not be listening. ???

But you go in one room, they're listening to listen to Greek mythology. They've got that, you know, memorized. You go to another room, they're listening to this or that. So, just having that available is so helpful to children when you need to take the pressure off. But back to the narration. What I'm doing right now is, I'm collecting their notebooks once a week and I'm a really fast reader, so it works for me. I just read them all at once. I have those sets of, you know, those foil star stickers like the gold stars. So, I put a star next to each one as I read it. If I have a comment to make, I will, but I'm just looking at them, reading them, and then I'll say, hey, I really think you could do this better. And that's it, that's that.

J -

Yeah, perfect.

B -

Narrate orally. I think that's a very powerful tool to use, not just for learning, but I think for engaging with someone. So, when we're sitting at the table and we're reading the American history selection or whatever, we're reading at that time. Read the selection. We've got our five kids around the table and I say, hey, what did you hear? And I just, I do not have a number or method of who I pick. I just try to kind of keep it even, asking who I ask first. I ask two or three of them, what did you hear? What did you hear? And when you look at them in their eyes and you smile at them when they're telling you something, it's probably one of the most powerful things you can do all day long.

J -

I totally agree. Yes, I totally agree.

B -

Cause they think I matter. What I said matters? You listening to them and that's so rare in our culture, especially with mothers staring at their phones or looking at, you know whatever, to look at the child, listen to the child, and acknowledge what they heard makes their learning, makes them so motivated to listen.

J -

Yes, yes, yes. That is such a great point. I give a narration talk and I talk a lot about, even like the hormones that are released through...I was, read some study, you know, about, like, when we're reading a narrative story, the hormones that are released and one of them is oxytocin. The bonding chemical. And then when you're narrating, that's another bonding experience. I mean, I think back on my own childhood, right? The amount of confidence that I would have gained from being able to express my opinions and have an adult listen to them and not critique them, not criticize them. Just go, oh wow, that's interesting. And then you know, if my kid is totally off base and they just told me that you know, Abraham Lincoln crossed the Delaware River to surprise the British or whatever, like, you know, I'd totally be like, yeah, that was so cool that George Washington did that. You know? Try to bring it back to what's real and then, I won't just let him narrate, you know, whatever. That rarely ever happens, but it's happened ??? about something.

And, but they gain that confidence and I kind of feel like sometimes my kids are too confident like they just like go up to any adult and tell them exactly what they think it.

B -

They tell, you know, my children when we're hiking, and they go way ahead of me, so I don't see them, pretty much, on a hike and adults will come by, like the other day, this woman came by and she's like, your son is just so precious, and we just had the best talk. And she was like, I don't know 78 years old, and my autistic child, who actually is pretty funny, the way that he talks, just had been chatting hear ear off for, like, a mile. And they think everybody wants to listen to them.

J -

Yes. Right, I've been all like, not everyone, you know, wants to hear your thoughts on everything. But I'd rather have them have that confidence, right, than that, like what I have to say and think doesn't matter. And it's such a beautiful gift, I think, that we give our children that narration time, and I know I always get comments, especially the beginning of the year. Like, my kid hates narration. You know, what should I do? And I'm like, this, it should not be a painful experience. Most people want to tell their parents what's going on. Right? Yeah?

B -

I think the hating narration, cause I haven't come across that either, but I could see a child who's very type A, or maybe in a perfectionist struggling with not being able to summarize everything perfectly and successfully.

J -

Exactly. Right.

B -

Like, I can imagine that happening.

J -

Yes.

B -

But certainly, if you continue to encourage them and list and say, it's okay, just tell me one thing. Cause I have noticed when you say to a child, what is your favorite dessert? I mean the stress and the pressure?

J -

I mean, I couldn't tell you my favorite dessert. There's too much...???

B -

So, but instead, saying what is a dessert that you enjoy? Give so much freedom. So even in a narration, saying, what is something that was interesting? Not, tell me everything you heard into every last thing. Cause that, if you're new to narration, could be absolutely just daunting. But starting out by saying what is one thing that you heard? It can ease that pain, I would assume.

J -

Yes, and being and encouraging and being, you know, and whatever they tell you, accept it. And, yeah, encourage it, and, yeah, so how do you balance? Do you mostly just do the oral narration, then, when you're all together and the subjects they do independently, they write some right now so you can check it... Cause I get that question because I'm sure it's hard if you have multiple children that you're trying to get to narrate to you at some point during the day and then trying to keep track of...did I hear that narration? Did I not hear that one? Yeah.

B -

And my older kids never orally narrate except for my twelfth grader. She is going through various parts of British literature and so she actually listens to them on Audible on her way to work and on her way back. And then she tells me a very nice narration of what she heard, and that's just part of her English lesson that she's doing right now, so she's my best one who narrates.

J -

I love that because yeah, I don't think you ever outgrow that. Like, I mean, I'm in a book club and that's pretty much what we do when we get together. Get coffee. We're narrating what we've heard, so, I think that's a lifelong skill for sure. And I do feel like, with my older children, like you were saying, like it does really sound and look like an essay. And so, people get all this, you know,

B -

Panic.

J -

are they ???

Yeah, I totally get it. But it's like, if your kid is able to narrate, you know, a book, I don't even, trying to think, like Pride and Prejudice or something like that, right? They're not going to give you a paragraph. Like it does naturally flow into an essay, especially if they've been orally narrating for a really long time. And I haven't found, you know, my two girls that took English in college, they were well way advanced than their peers...

B -

Isn't that happy?

J -

...in their writing. Yes, it is. It's like, oh, I didn't completely mess him up. Just a little bit.






Today's episode is brought to you by A Gentle Feast. A Gentle Feast is a complete curriculum for grades one through twelve that is family-centered, inspired by Miss Mason's programs and philosophy, and rooted in books, beauty, and Biblical truth. You can find out how smooth and easy days are closer than you think at agentlefeast.com.





So, let's talk about, you mentioned dessert here. So, let's talk about kind of fitting in some of those what we, what I call ??? dessert subject. Some of those extra things that you're like, these are very Charlotte Mason-y. Can they be...they have to be fitted in, of thinking of, like you mentioned, like hiking. So, there's the nature study, there is handicrafts. Like you mentioned about jumping on the trampoline. There's some singing. You know, there's all these different things, and people get all stressed about them, and I, personally, I'm like, we just put them in when we can. Hiking on the weekends. We, you know, my kids are in choir. Like I outsource a lot of that stuff. What do you do for that?

B -

I think that, again, you have to look at this as a long, long, long path. So you don't have to fit everything in today or even this semester. But continually looking for ways to expand what you've done, what you're interested in. Now hiking is something that I absolutely love. And I have one, one child out of ten who loves it like I do.

J -

Are you serious? Oh, my goodness.

B -

I am serious.

J -

I'm sorry.

B -

Because I used to take them once a week at least, and when I took them this week, they had a little break and they were like, oh no, mom's gonna start making us hike five times a month. And I was like, fine. Once they're there, they really enjoy it, but they don't get the same benefit I do. So, we do, we hike a lot. We, art is a big part of our life and I think for me, being an artist, I realize it's not as complicated as people make it and I understand that it's easy for me cause it's my gift, but it's also, like, not as complicated as getting out like, just get out materials. And let's go. Which we always have paint and watercolor and other things available in that studio and it also, nothing in there can be messed up. So, there's a lot of art that happens.

The other thing that I think helps develop personal hobbies and things like that, is to not be too busy. Now I don't know, I mean, a lot of people feel like they need to be really busy. I'm not one of those cause it makes me super stressed out. So, we do not do in general, extracurricular activities.

J -

Let it out of the bag. Whew!

B -

Everybody's fine. I have two that that do piano but it's at home. But we have never, except for a few times, paid for our children to do organized extracurricular activities. And they actually do go outside, and they actually make these amazing, beautiful forts. And they make go-karts, and they make things. They just do. I guess, for my children, they did grow up with a creative parent, so that could be part of it. But they also, like, they have the time. So, I do not, I do not do video games except for very rarely, and my children hate that. I don't do screams either. Then it makes them crazy. But it makes him crazy enough...and build something.

My kids do a lot of drawing. And that too, I think that's just a genetic thing for us. That's how we are. And they do a lot of playing sports outside, of exploring, making clubs. I loved how Charlotte Mason, I don't know where she said this, but she talks about how, they will act out their lessons. If they...oh, they do. You look out, they're like, tying up a Native American, and you're, whoa, whoa, what's goin' on? It's just the lesson is fine. So, those things happen a lot. I really do...

J -

Cause they have that time. And there's a Parent's Review article, too, where it talks about imagination. I'll see if I can find it, but, that the reason, and it's so funny cause he's talking, you know, hundred years ago. But he's saying the reason that kids don't have imagination is because we feel the need to fill all of their day with activity and the article talks about tango, which is like, they have tango lessons. I think, I know, that sounds fun. You if we, or that we need to feel like any quiet moment with our endless adult chatter. And so, we feel like, okay, well we're at the doctor's lessons, you know, or waiting in the waiting room. We should, you know, bring some textbooks and we should fill this moment and, we're constantly filling their days. They don't have time for their imaginations and those ideas that they been learning in their lessons to take root and come out. Yeah.

B -

I also love all the nature study and the stories, and so I read those to them. I read them myself. Like if we go on a hike, I might just bring along that, what's that big red book?

J -

The Handbook of Nature Study?

B -

Yes. That one. I'll read that. And just, cause I, I'm just like, we're going hiking. We'll just read this before we go. And doesn't have to relate to anything we necessarily will see.

But I personally find nature healing and satisfying, and I love talking about it.

J -

It's for my own mental health most.

B -

I've also started playing a lot more games with the kids. I detest board games, they, I mean just absolutely, always have. But I love like math games and word games and stuff like that, so I'll just pull out like Yahtzee the other day, and we'll play Yahtzee. Just randomly. In the afternoon. And then they actually start playing a lot more together. When I've kind of instigated that.

J -

Yeah, I'd love if you wanna share some that I could put in the show notes, like if you have some favorite word or math games that we could link to that would be fantastic, yeah. I'm a big board game person, but the problem is it sometimes deteriorates into competition and then that takes the pleasure out of it for me when everybody's fighting about it. I'm like, can't we just all get along and play this game?

B -

I know isn't it fun. Isn't this fun y'all? So fun.

J -

So, do you have any last-minute tips about organization, or nitty-gritty kind of stuff?

B -

Oh man, I have so many things. I really do. ??? Oh boy. I'm trying to think what would be most important cause I could talk forever, but I do think, I really want to encourage the people who have the babies and toddlers...

J -

Yeah, yeah, let's talk about those cause I get that question all the time.

B -

It's hard. It's really hard. My dad came over the other day and he was, I said something about how, oh yeah, it's a lot easier...oh, we're talk...my sister, my sister has five little ones. And I was like, oh yeah, it's way easier having ten. And he was like, huh? But when your children are five and under, which I just graduated from. Woohoo! Yeah.

J -

No more preschool.

B -

Yeah, it can be really though. It's really draining and I, my autistic child, he screamed for a year and a half for about nine hours a day. And this is when I was schooling and I, you know, I think that's about as bad as it can get, and I would be teaching over just horrifying screams. And the children, you know, we all suffered through that, but the Lord was gracious to us, and He, you know, He always keeps us. But there are times when your babies, and you're tired, and you're pregnant and you just, just one day at a time. And it's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay. Your plans do not have to look perfect. Just be faithful. And I, you know, even for me when I had so many babies, I think I had six and, six in cribs at once. I think that was my max, because of my special needs child.

And so during those times you just love those children, stay outside just like Charlotte Mason says. Be outside as much as you can. My children are not fainting flowers, they are beasts, wild beasts. They have some, they're so loud. Being outdoors was really helpful. The Audible is really helpful. Let them hear that language. Let them hear, they're gonna learn grammar and all those things by listening to stories that are above their level. I am thankful to say that my twelfth grader is going to college. She scored...it doesn't matter, but she scored a great score on her SAT. None of those things were things that I was thinking about.

J -

Yeah, and that wasn't your, like, focus.

B -

Right.

J -

Yeah, so exactly.

B -

But we just pray, Lord, have mercy on us. Show me what to do. Show me what to do today. And I really would suggest people who have children five and under schooling year-round and taking a break every now and then, because if you are just faithful, just do a little bit at a time, just keep going, it'll keep their schedule going. But don't fret. Just try to do better today than you did yesterday. And it's always that. It's just, keep track, do better today than yesterday. Don't fret. Love those children. I know it's hard, but you're gonna survive. I just know it.

J -

Well, it's funny cause before we got on, I texted you that, like, oh, I'm running late. I need to go to the bathroom, and you're like, Mom's don't get to go to the bathroom. I'm like, oh, I do now! And nobody knocks on the door anymore. I kinda feel lonely in there, like, nobody is talking to me.

B -

It's amazing. It's a great privilege to be able to go to the bathroom.

J -

And then you find that, yeah, but then you find like, like you miss those things, right? And instead of like, like you're saying, like, focusing on...I still funny cause every time I give a talk I gotta question about well this prepare my child for the SAT? And I'm like oh, okay, well tell me about your family, and their kid's like four. And I'm like, okay, instead of focusing on this end product, right? What Charlotte Mason's talking against is focus on the person and let these things naturally all in place cause they will but it takes an amazing amount of faith.

B -

It really does. It does. It takes a lot of faith, because you think, oh my goodness, what's gonna happen? What's gonna happen? And I'm thankful to be at a point where I'm seeing, okay, this is happening. So...

J -

It does encourage you, yeah, for sure.

B -

Right. We're gonna be okay. I would say the other is, find your personality of how the Lord has gifted you in a special way to help your children be motivated. So...

J -

Oh, that is such good advice. Wait, say that one more time cause that's so good.

B -

Oh well, just find where, in your personality, what the Lord has gifted you to motivate your children because everybody is different. So, I am a ??? driver and that is my gift.

I'm a driver, I'm a motivator. And I motivate them by inspiring them with my words and pushing them forward with the way that I, on the front end, motivate them. I am not a great record keeper. So, there are people who, on the back end, do better at motivating by maybe correcting something someone wrote or giving feedback on something that they did. And we can all use both ends but try to find how you can motivate your children because there's a lot of people who say, well, my kid just doesn't want to do this. They don't want to do that. And I think when you go to the deeper level of what motivates us, what motivates a person? One short example is when my children have a chore that they don't want to do. And I say, hey, I need you to go do this and there's like this face. I say...you know the face.

J -

Oh yeah.

B -

I say, you know what? And I've said this their whole lives. You are going to do this job.

Now here's your choice. This is the choice. Not whether or not you're going to do the job, but whether or not God is gonna reward you for what you are doing. So, you're either going to A, get rewards or B, not. Okay? Because the Lord is the rewarder of those who do good. And He wants, He loves you and He wants to reward you, so make that choice. Be happy. Work with a happy heart.

J -

Well, and I love that, like you're saying, like, each mom really needs to look at themselves. Like we have our individual gifts and our own individual limitations. And so, as homeschoolers, we really do set, we are the thermometers of our home. And so, we need to look at ourselves first. I always feel like you gotta put on your own oxygen mask first, so, when you're looking at your day, how are you going to take care of you first? Yes, I've got time, cause, otherwise I will get eaten up. But then second, in terms of like shaping your children in the atmosphere of your home, you have to work with what you're naturally strong in, right? Not that you're not gonna, like, oh I, I don't know how to do that. I don't know how to record keep, or I'm not a type, you know, I'm not detailed, so I'm not going to do those things. Like, you need to work on your weaknesses. I don't mean that but build up the things that you're naturally strong in and say okay, no, like, this is really important to me. You're talking about like, you're naturally gifted in art, right? That I can look at other people on Instagram or whatever and be like, oh, there's so wonderful at XYZ and I wish I could do that in my house. I wish we could have a flower farm, but like, that's not how I'm. I'm gifted, right? Like, I, and I've learned like, okay, now the gift that I give my children is like, my love for books and history. And it doesn't mean I have to give them all these other things, right? They can get those else in the world. And if God has a desire and a plan for them, He's going to bring other people into their lives, that's one of the beautiful things about homeschooling too is they are going to interact with other people other than peers that they're, their own age. And so, they will get those things and I just need to surrender and I think that's what's so hard. And I was talking about that face component earlier is that, especially as homeschool moms. We put so much pressure on ourselves because we feel we're in control. And it's all our responsibility to know everything that's happening. And once, I mean, I almost completely burnt out with, not just homeschooling, which is life. From all that pressure.

B -

Right. Right.

J -

Yeah, it's too much.

B -

Yeah, I think you just need to find your priorities and focus on those and then keep adding. A little more every day, and then when you need to subtract it's okay. You can subtract.

J -

Yeah. That's what's so great. Great words of encouragement. Before we close, do you have a favorite Charlotte Mason quote that you'd like to share?

B -

Well, that's one of those pressure questions, you know? Where you're like, what's your favorite?

J -

Okay, how about a Charlotte Mason quote that you would like to share? That you like?

B -

So I was, the quote that I chose is applicable to what we've talked about. It's, do not let the children pass a day without distinct efforts. Intellectual, moral, volitional, let them brace themselves to understand. Let them compel themselves to do and to bear. And let them do what is right at the sacrifices of ease and pleasure. And I think this is very apt for our culture. And I think it's so important that we encourage our children to sacrifice their ease and pleasure to do what's right. And it's something sorely, sorely missing in the next two generations, and so, so important. And we do the same thing. So being...

J -

I was just gonna say I could naturally go to like, oh, my couch looks real comfy right now.

Like, I want to pick the easy route too, man.

B -

Yeah. Yes. So being an example in sacrificing your ease and pleasure for...what does...I tell my children every day. Just say today Lord, what would You have me do today?

J -

That is so good. Yeah yeah. And it, you know, building that skill, you know Charlotte Mason talks about the way of the world versus the way of the reason, like that self-discipline will carry them through life and will make them way more successful. I hate to use that word but like what their SAT score isn't gonna amount to anything if they have no self-discipline. And I've seen so many kids who had great scores, went to great schools, and then just...yeah, fell apart, because they never had that self-discipline. Right. Yeah.

B -

Well, we did not get to talk about it, but as for things like work and chores, just on that line, I would like to mention that teaching your children to work is one of the most valuable things you can do.

J -

Yes. Yes, that's great.

B -

Ask for more, almost math. Like all of my children, because they know how to work hard and to work cheerfully, the jobs they get are just amazing. So, you can, like you're saying, you can have a great SAT, but if you don't know how to sacrifice yourself and how to work and how to be cheerful, that, it ends there. That's where it ends.

J -

Yeah, and would you say that, I know you mentioned the book Managers of Our Homes and Chores, is there anything else you wanted to say about that? I mean, I don't want to shut you off here. I'd love to hear that.

B -

Well, I don't know, cause I could talk about chores and work for like...

J -

Maybe we'll do another podcast on that topic. That'd be fun.

B -

We could talk about work. I could talk about work all day long and my children'd be like yes, she can talk about work all the time.

J -

Maybe we could bring some of them on too, that'd be fun.

B -

That would be fun. That would be fun.

J -

But, you know, I've seen it with my own kids too, my older kids. You know, just that work ethic and how much that has served them as they have started getting jobs and have had to balance...I'm like, I'm not paying for you to go to college. Like, I'll pay, I'll help but you're going to work and support yourself and learn like...you know, I'm like, like I was like, I feel like all the money I make just goes to like rent and food. I'm like, welcome to the real world. Like, welcome to being an adult. I'm sorry. I know what you thought it was gonna be like...but there you go.

B -

This is it. This is it.

J -

Oh, it was so good to talk to you. I knew that this, you were just the person to talk about this and there are so many, just amazing tidbits of wisdom and you're so talented in this. So, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today.

B -

Well, I'm thankful for all the work you've done and in advancing Charlotte Mason's agenda in the world. And just enjoy all those things so thanks.




J -

Thank you for joining us today on the Charlotte Mason Show. I'm your host, Julie Ross, and I would love to meet you in person. All of the Great Homeschool Conventions have been rescheduled to 2021. Go to greathomeschoolconventions.com to find a convention near you.

But you don't have to wait until 2021 to experience the amazing speakers and vendors at the Great Homeschool Conventions. They now offer an online convention that you can find on greathomeschoolconventions.com.

Also, if you would like the show notes for today's episode, go to homeschooling.mom.

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Thanks for joining me today. Until next time, may your home be filled with books, beauty, and Biblical truth.


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